Chicago Bears fans had it rough for a long time. Not only did they have to watch Aaron Rodgers pick apart their defense on Sundays, but they’d suffer the double indignity of listening to every media outlet fawn over him as the greatest thing ever to happen to the NFL. What made it even worse is that it became increasingly apparent over the past four or five years that Rodgers, for all his incredible ability, isn’t the nicest person. He earned a growing reputation as self-absorbed, disrespectful, a conspiracy theorist, and a drug addict.
None of it mattered as long as he kept playing well. However, it appears his once-spotless reputation is taking a severe hit lately. It started with his ugly performance against the Minnesota Vikings in London, where he threw three costly interceptions, looking more and more like the 40-year-old man he is. Now, New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh has been fired, and many believe Rodgers had a direct hand in it. The national media has taken a hard left turn on him because of this, calling him a source of the offensive problems and a “coach killer.”
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain. If Rodgers had chosen to retire after the 2021 season, in which he’d won his fourth MVP, he would’ve been declared one of the best of all time. Instead, he persisted further. His final year in Green Bay saw a clear regression, capped by an ugly loss to Detroit in the season finale to miss the playoffs. He accepted a trade to the Jets, seemed entirely certain he’d turn the organization around, and then immediately ruptured his Achilles, missing the season.
This year, he skipped all minicamps in the spring, choosing to go on a drug-fueled trip to Egypt instead. He now has seven touchdowns and four interceptions in five games, putting him on pace for the worst quarterback rating by far in his career. Rather than work to circle the wagons and bring the locker room together, he likely had a hand in getting his head coach fired. It is hard to fathom how somebody could implode their legacy so quickly, but Aaron Rodgers found a way.
